Safety rail joint



April 15 1924.

W. RIEFSCHNIDER ET Al. SAFETY RAIL JINT' Filed Feb. 19, 1923 '/-x 6 f'7/4 /l 3 /H /0 l LA? 2f- Ig f3 @Lm/'MEV Patented pr. 15, 19214..

SAFETY RAIL CI'QINT.l

Application filed February 19,1923. `Serial No. 619,870;

T o all whom t may concern Be it known that we, lVALTnn Dna and HENRYRIEFSGHNIDER, citizens of the United States, residing at Seattle, countyof King, and State of /Vashington, have in vented new and usefulImprovements in` Safety Rail Joints; and we do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact specification, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to.

make and use the same.

The invention is a means for connecting yrails that will make itimpossible for them to become disconnected or to bend at the connection.

The invention is an improvementkover the joint shown and described inour Patent No. 1,439,191 issued December 19; 1922.V

The object of the invention is to provide rails with ends which willdovetail together so that it will be impossible for them to spreadwithout tearing up the entire track,

Vith these ends in view the invention embodies a rail with the topof therail omitted a short distance from the end, its web thickened with thesides tapering; and another rail with angle plates extending beyond theend of the railv and integral therewith; and a slot with tapering sidesbetween the angle plates. The invention also embodies a clamp forholding the ends of the rails up into the slots of the other rails.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear from thefollowing description taken in connection with the drawings, wherein: 1

Figure 1 is a side elevation with parts broken away.

Figure 2 is a cross joint.

Figure 3 is a view showing an alternate design of the clamp at thebottoni of the joint.

Figure 4 is a similar view showing another alternate design of theclamp.

Figure 5 is a bottom View of the female member. j

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the male member.

In the drawings we have shown our joint as it would appear in use inFigure 1 wherein numeral 1 indicates one rail on which is the femaleoint and numeral 2 indicates another rail the end of which constitutesthe male member. The web of thev rail 2 is thickened from the point 3shownin Figure section through the RrnrsoHNi- Y V1 rand tapers? from itsupper edge 4 toits lower edge 5` where itA is curved. This web fits intoa slot 6 in the center of the rail 1 and extends to the point 7 shown inFigure 1.` On the sides ofthe rail 1 are plates 8 and 9 which extendbeyond the end of the rail and to the point 10 so that atleast twobolts` as indicated by the numeral 11 may be placed through the yjointon each side of the point 3.

The construction of the rail lmmay be p more clearlypunderstood from thebottom view shownin Figure 5k which shows the top of the rail stopped orcut away at the line 3, the bottom flange ofthe yrail` stopped or cutaway at rthe line 12, the slot 6 which'- extends from the line12to thepoint 3 in the center of the rail, and the side plates 8 and 9 whichextend from the line 12 to the point 13. The lower edges of the sideplates 8 and 9 extend outward to form flanges 14 and 15 which rest uponthe bottom flange ofY the Vend of the rail 2. The construction of theend of the rail 2 as shown in Figure 6 shows the top of the rail stoppedorcut away at the point 3, the webthickenedand tapering from the point 4to the point 5, and a portion of the web beyondlthe point 3 thickened sothat it will be flush with the sides of the top of the rail as indicatedby the numeral 16. Suitable holes k17 maybe placed through the web tocorrespond with similar holes through the iiangesor side plates of therail 1 so that bolts may be 'placed through them to hold the jointtogether.

At the'bottom of the section shown in Figure 2 is a clamp 18 which maybe constructed as shown, or in one piece with projecticns 19 extendingupward and bent over as shown at the points 20, and projections 21extending outward through which the clamp may be spiked to the ties. Inthe design shown the clamp is shown in two halves so that one half maybe slipped on each side of the ont. The halves may then be held in placeby spikes passing through the projections 21. Or the clamps may be madein one piece and placed over the ends of the rails before the joint isassembled. An alternate `design of the clamp is shown in Figure 3 whichhas a projection 19 on one side and a lug` 22 on the other so that itmay be passed under the rail; raised to the position shown,r and thenheld in place by spikes. ln the design shown in Figure 4 the clamp has aprojection 19 on one side and a lug 23 onthe other in which is aYdove-tail slot 29k, A member 25 with "a dove-tail projection 26 on itand whose upperend is bent similar to 'that ofthe projection 19 maybeplaced in T'Another may be lin the number of bolts used ofthe members-ofthe in KAeither section of VtheV joint. k(And still another change maybe in the shape of any joint, orV in the design of the clamps;r

. The construction? will begreadily understood from theforegoingdescription, as all yrails, maybe made with one end similar to thatofrail4 l andy with the other similar to that offrail'2 so that when atrack is being laid one'rail will fit yintov another and the ktwo boltedtogether. Yjoining the rails in- -It will be seen that by this manner itwill be' absolutely impossible for them to come apart even though theboltsinay loosen. n

Having thus fully described the invention what we claim as newand'desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a rail joint a rail section having its fiange terminated short of itsend, the web removedbetween the end of the Hangs and the end of the railand replaced by side plates, whichextend from a point a short distancebehind the point at which the ange terminates to a point beyond the endof the topof the rail, and which have outwardly extending flanges attheir lower edges; a companion rail section provided with an enlargedweb section and its top terminated a short distance from its end; theenlarged web .section and side plates being provided with bolt holes bywhich the joint may be bolted together; and base plates with extensionsprojecting upward that c'lalnp the two sections together, and that maybe held'tothe ties by spikes.

WALTER RIEFSCHNIDER. HENRY RIEFSCHNIDER.

